Why is this work relevant for Media?

India, land of many festivals that are celebrated with fervor and euphoria. Durga Puja is a festival that celebrates the homecoming of goddess Durga. Sacred food (bhog) is at the heart of the festivities and is usually consumed with unclean hands. Lifebuoy identified a powerful opportunity to intervene during Durga Puja to ensure devotees had cleans hands before eating bhog and were educated on the importance of hand hygiene to prevent infections. A Germ Nashini (destroyer) was created and strategically placed at the heart of the festival celebrations across three cities. The message truly became the medium and vice versa.

Background

Lifebuoy, the world’s largest hygiene soap has a century plus legacy of fighting germs and saving lives. The brand over decades has been driving the crucial education around handwashing as a life-saving ritual. The brand has run multiple on ground programs that have traversed traditional conduits like schools, villages and also some out-of-box, innovative hygiene interventions at mass religious congregations like the Kumbh Mela in India. Food is an indispensable part of Indian festivals but more often than not, this food is eaten with unwashed hands exposing devotees to germs and illnesses. Therefore, in the land of festivals, Lifebuoy found yet another opportunity of using religious gatherings to drive education on the importance of handwashing. We had two objectives: Use Durga Puja, one of India’s largest festival as a platform to drive awareness amongst devotes about handwashing before meals. Make the message contextual and impactful to ensure receptivity.

Describe the creative idea/insights (30% of vote)

During the festival of Durga Puja, devotees enjoy warm bhog (sacred, blessed food) but often with unclean hands. Hygiene brand Lifebuoy created Germ Nashini, (Destroyer), to protect people from illness causing germs. Designed in the form of the ‘goddess’ blessing gesture’, Germ Nashini literally means destroyer of germs which was an apt metaphor attached to goddess Durga, the destroyer of all evil. Devotees placed their hands in front of the ‘goddess’ hand’ and the device sensed hands to dispense Lifebuoy’s hand sanitizer. Germ Nashini in its form and unique design took an ordinary automated sanitizer dispenser and transformed it into a cultural symbol bringing alive the message of the brand in an engaging and relevant manner for the devotees.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

There were 3 key target audiences that Lifebuoy wanted to attract through this activation. Devotees: The Germ Nashini was placed where the sacred bhog was served ensuring every devotee was targeted and no one ate bhog without cleaning their hands. A video was also released on Dussehra, the most auspicious day of the festival. The hashtag #GermNashini soon gained momentum during the period of the festival. Media channels: Indian festivals gain a lot of attention from media outlets who cover events on key days. Germ Nashini as a result of its unique form and design stood out of the clutter of brands, catching media attention. Durga Puja organizers: Through this activation the aim was to catch the eye of Durga Puja organizers, who would appreciate the importance and commit to providing Germ Nashini every year to the devotees as a means to protect them from germs.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

The activation was conducted in the 3 biggest cities where the Durga Puja festival is celebrated in large numbers – Mumbai, Kolkata and Guwahati. Lifebuoy targeted 3 big Durga Pandals (marquees) in each of these cities where large footfalls were ensured. The Germ Nashini was placed in each Durga Puja Pandal in a central location, where devotees would congregate before consuming ‘bhog’ (sacred food).The live activation was also captured on video, released on 18th October 2018 on Youtube, Instagram and Twitter and was covered by multiple digital websites. Kajol, famous Indian celebrity shared the activation video and message through her Twitter account. Indian festivals are covered extensively by local media like newspapers and Germ Nashini attracted the attention of multiple regional and national newspapers as well.

List the results (30% of vote)

1. Reached over 2.3 million devotees with our message during the festival. 2. Covered by over 15 news channels & media publications. 3. Most of all caught the eye of Durga Puja event organizers who are keen to install the Germ Nashini next year in their own pandals.

Please tell us about the social behaviour and/or cultural insights that inspired your campaign

Goddess Durga has millions of devout followers and in the month of October every year, the heart of every devotee thumps faster in the anticipation of homecoming of goddess Durga. Huge tents or Pandals, are set up over 10 days, where millions of devotees come to offer their prayers to the goddess. Given the depth of devotion, we realized that people would never ignore a message from the goddess herself and that was the key behavioural insight Lifebuoy latched on to. Goddess Durga is known as Durgoti Nashini, the destroyer of all evil. We used her ‘blessing hand gesture’ to symbolize the destruction of germs. Lifebuoy created the Germ Nashini, or the Germ destroyer. Like the goddess Durga at whose hands devotees seek blessings to destroy the evil from their lives, the Germ Nashini, was designed like the very hand of the goddess to destroy germs.